The Altra King MT2 is an aggressive lightweight trail running shoe that suits people with wider feet. Its ideally suited for shorter trail runs or obstacle course races where grip and agility is important.

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In Depth Review

When I was lucky enough to be in the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships a few years ago it was the Altra King MT shoe that I took with me. If you have normal or slightly wide feet the usual range of Salomon Speedcross, Mudclaw or Hoka are just too narrow and so The Altra King MTs become a likely go to shoe. This is not a shoe for any kind of long distance hiking or trail running unless you are very lightweight because the stripped down cushioning and lack of rock plate would destroy your feet,but these shoes are pretty unbeatable over tough wet terrain at speed for one or two hours on your feet.

Fabric

The upper fabric on this shoe is a tear resistant quick drying fabric with a clear plastic grid over it to give it some extra strength. This makes the shoe great in the summer when its hot to help keep your feet cool.

Laces and Velcro

To keep the shoe more secure from flailing laces the shoes have a velcro strap that goes over the laces to keep them tidy. I actually love the velcro strap because it means you can make really quick micro adjustments to how tight or loose the shoe is for your comfort or security needs. The laces on them are way too short though.

Grip

The sole is made by Vibram and in my opinion is the best grip they have on the entire Altra range. The grip is so good I honestly don’t understand why they don’t have it on their Lone Peaks too. The megagrip is designed to work well in the wet and dry and is one of my favourites. I recently reviewed the Topo X Danner 2650 with the same grip and loved it. be warned though, like performance race car tires the mega grip comes at a price and that is that if you use these shoes on tarmac a lot they will wear incredibly quickly.

Cushioning

These shoes have some of the least amount of cushioning for Altra but at 19mm its still a significant amount. You will get the advantage of feeling everything underfoot for control and stability but the lack of a rock plate on the mid means if you are a heavier runner or on your feet for a few hours you may start to get more of a pounding that you might like. I can think of only runner I know that does more than a marathon in distance in these shoes and he weighs very little so the impact is less.

Zero Drop

It used to be that Altra talked about their shoes bing ‘Zero Drop’ but after being sold there seems to be something of a ‘rebrand’ going on. It now seems to be called ‘balanced cushioning’ and refers to having your heel and ball of foot at the same height relative to each other. You might be surprised to know that most running and hiking shoes have about a 4mm to 8mm lift between the heel and the toe area. The thinking with ‘balanced cushioning’ is you get a more natural gait but the jury will forever be out on this one as some people can also experience rather tight achilles tendons from this type of zero drop and even stiff and painful calves.

If you want to ‘transition’ into this set up I suggest wedging a cut out from an old insole heel under the insole on these to give you a temporary ‘midway’ set up from previous shoe to this zero drop, especially if you start to feel calf or heel tightness. My prediction is we will see Altra gently creep backwards and away from their zero drop mentality over the next few years in a way that doesn’t highlight the fact that they fanfared about it when they first launched.

Gaiter Trap

We’ve all had what feels like a boulder rattling round near our heel on trail. When you open up the shoe Im always amazed how much grief such small little stones can cause. Altras come with a metal hook down near the start of the lacing and a velcro gaiter attachment point on the heel so you can easily add gaiters to these shoes to help keep trail dirt out.

Drain Holes

With wet running and Obstacle Course Racing in mind these shoes are designed to drain quickly through drainage channels, but this comes at a cost. If you use these shoes early in the day for a walk when things are covered in dew, or walk in them on a wet day they also let a lot of moisture in too. I would recommend using a wool sock if this might happen to you.

Gripes

Altra has been dogged by quality issues in the last few years, one of the reasons they stopped being my favourite trail shoe. The weak points for the material tearing remaining around the toe area. Despite being foot shaped I still think you need to buy these half a size or even whole size up as well. Compared to the previous 1.5 versions which I had the velcro band has been moved slightly and it feels less comfortable in the new location. I would honestly do away with laces entirely and have 2 velcro bands instead but move the bands back to where they were in the 1.5.

I also think the toe box area needs beefing up to protect from coming apart and bashes. I’ve lost my love overall for Altra in the last 18 months as their quality and build have been a let down on a few models. You get a sense that now they are established and been sold to another company there is an underlying trend to save money and normalize all the quirks that actually built Altras fanbase at the start.

Closest Contender

If you are looking for a shoe that’s not too cushioned, responsive and fast with a wider toe box then the closest thing would be the Topo Athletic MT3 which has the added benefit of being good for tarmac too but has less aggressive tread and grip.

Verdict

If you are a swift trail runner or Obstacle Course Racer this shoe is for you. For distances under half marathon the combination of grip, foot security and lightness makes this shoe unbeatable, especially if you have normal or wide feet. If you plan to spend the whole day on your feet or want cushioning and protection from rocks then you might want to look at the Lone Peak Instead.

Features

• Weight: 8.7 oz / 246 g
• Insole: 6 mm Contour Footbed
• Midsole: Altra EGO™
• Outsole: Vibram® MegaGrip™ Litebase™ with 6 mm lugs

• Cushion: Low
• Stack Height: 19 mm
• Upper: Tear resistant quick-dry upper

About Altra

Altra Running, commonly known as Altra, is an American company engaged in the design, development, marketing, and sales of road running, trail running, and general footwear. Altra has been ranked in the top 10 brands in “run specialty” and number 4 for trail running.

In 2016, the company started to manufacture running and hiking apparel with a line of jackets, shorts, shirts, and socks. Altra developed a backless windbreaker that can be easily slipped on over a backpack or hydration pack during long distance running